Corn-sheller.



No. 7|o,s48.

o. E, nAvmsoN. CORN SHELLER.' (Application led Jan. 4;, 1902.) (NoNudel.)

Patented Oct. 7,

2 Sheets-Sheetv I.

' y lIlHlmIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIHIIH No. 7|o,a4a. Patented oct. '7, |902.

o. E. DAVID-son.

CORN SHELLEB.

(Application filed Jan. 4, 1902.) (No Model.) 2 Sheets- Sheet 24 TH:Noam: PETERS no. Wouw., waarna-mrt, n. c.

dhs@ UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

OTIS E. DAVIDSON, OF NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE, ASSIGNOR TO J. B. KNOTT ANDCUMBERLAND FOUNDRY da MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF NASH- VILLE, TENNESSEE,A CORPORATION OF TENNESSEE.

CORN-SHELLER.

SPECIFICATION 'forming part of Letters Patent No. 710,848, dated October'7, 1902.

Application filed January 4, 1902. Serial No. 88.452. (No-model.)

,To @ZZ whom, it may u/cern: which form a protective casing to preventBe it known thatI, O'lIs E. DAVIDSON, of the corncob and chaiffromflying about in all Nashville, in the county of Davidson, Statedirections is preferably composed of a baseof Tennessee, have inventedcertain new and board A, having suitable cleats A on the botusefulvImprovements in Corn-Shellers; and tom projecting at one side for theapplication 55 I do hereby declare the following to bea full, of screwsor bolts, whereby the sheller may clear, and exact description of thesame, refbe fastened down to a suitable table, bench, erence being hadto the accompanying drawor other support. Extending up from the ings,forming a part of this speciiicatiomand base-board A are side boards A2,and between 1o to the letters of reference marked thereon. the sideboards are front and rear end boards 6o This invention relates toimprovements in A3 A4, the latter boards being held in posimachines forshelling corn from the cob, the tion by being slipped into grooves inthe side objects of the invention being to provide a boards or by beingfastened by screws, bolts,

,Y simple, easily-operated, audeflicientmechanor other devices, as willbe readily underism for accomplishing the desired end, which stood. Thefront board A3 is provided with 65 mechanism shall be capable of beingmounta circular aperture in which is iitted the shelled in and combinedwith a box or casing of ing-wheel, to be hereinafter described, and suchform and size that it may be supported from a point in proximity to thisfront board on any suitable table or stand. A3 an incline or chute Bpasses down and zo Further objects of the invention are to prothroughthe rear end board, so as to forma 7o vide a sheller with which thecorn, silk, and guide for the cobs, &:c., passing through the chaff fromthe cob and the cob itself may be shelling-wheel. This incline B may besupall separated and discharged through sepaported by a centralwedge-shaped projecrate channels, if so desired, or thecorn may tion B'on the base-board, and near its forbe discharged separate from the chancand ward end there may be located a transverse 75 cob, and with whichmechanism the corn may chute B2, preferably relatively narrow and benubbed and short or nubbiu corn efinclining down toward one side of thecasing, fectually shelled. where it discharges through a small sideopen- The invention consists in certain novel deing B3, said chute beingadapted to discharge 3o tails of construction and combinations andthesilk, chaE, and other fine waste material 8o arrangements of parts, allas will be now decut'from the, cob by the shelling mechanism scribed,and pointed out particularly in the or broken off with the grains ofcorn. In one appended claims. Vside of the casing, preferably in theright- Referring to the accompanying drawings, hand side looking at thefront end of the cas- Figure l is a central longitudinal section ing, isjournaled adrive-shaft C, said'drive- 85 through a sheller embodying thepresent imshaft being adapted to carry on`the outer provements. Fig. 2is a top plan view with side of the casing a drive-wheel C', to whichthe cover removed. Fig. 3 is a front elevaa suitable handle c may beattached, and on tion with the upper portion of the front plate theinner side of the casing a beveled gear- 4o broken away to show theshelling teeth or wheel C2, adapted to mesh with the shelling- 9o bladesand the feed-flanges. Fig. 4 is a dewheel D, located in the circularopening in tail section through the shelling-wheel and the front boardof the casing, as aforesaid. its ring-support, this view alsoillustrating Theshelling-wheelconsists generally of a gearone of thespring-pressed arms for advancing wheel or toothed ring, (lettered 1),)which theshelling-teeth andfeed-Iiangesin the shelltoothed ring isprovided with a forwardly- 95 ing-wheel. extending iiange d, to thefront end of which Like letters of reference in the several figisadapted to be secured a support or shellerures indicate the same parts.plate D2. The bolts or screws d2, passing The box or casing in which theoperating through lugs on the wheel and plate, clamp 5o mechanism of thesheller are mounted and the two together, forming between them a roochannel for the reception of a bearing-ring l, which bearing-ring E ismounted on or supported by the front end board of the casing, theconnections being preferably formed by bolts e, passing through suitablelugs on the bearing-ring and through the front board, respectively. Withsuch a construction the Sheller-wheel, together with its front plate, isadapted to rotate in the bearing-ring, and in order to reduce as far aspossible the friction which would otherwise be caused by so large abearing-surface antifriction rollers or balls F are introduced betweenthe moving parts, as shown clearly in Figs. l and 4.

rlhe front plate ofthe Sheller-wheel is adapted to carry the shellingmechanism proper, which mechanism consists of a pair of jaws movable inright lines toward and from each other and guided by having their shanksG mounted in guides G' on the Sheller-plate and preferably inclosed byremovable brackets G2, whereby the stems of the jaws are protected andgiven an extended bearing-surface to prevent lateral displacement. Therange of movement of said jaws is limited and determined by lugs g',formed on the brackets or guides and projectinginto slots g2 in thestems of the jaws, as also illustrated in said Fig. 1. Each of the jawsconsists of aspiral G3, preferably sharpened sufficiently to enter orcut into the cob, and thereby feed or advance the same endwise when theSheller-wheel is rotated and the cob held against rotation, and a seriesof shelling flanges or lips projecting from the face of said spirals andin position to contact with and strip the corn from the cob as thelatter is fed in between the jaws.

In order to hold the jaws together with an equal pressure, therebyinsuring a uniform action of the shelling-head, arms H are pivotallymounted on the front plate of the Sheller-wheel and at their inner endsbear upon the outer sides of the spirals of the Sheller-jaws, and saidarms H are advanced toward each other by a spring H', preferably coiledabout an intermediate stud H2 and having its ends projected on the outersides of lugs H3 on the said arms. With this construction the springexerts an equal pressure on the two arms and through said arms on theSheller-jaws, advancing said jaws uniformly and with an equal pressure.

To insure successful operation of the machine, it is of course essentialthat the cob, together with the shelled portion of the corn thereon,should be held against rotation with the shelling-wheel, and in order toaccomplish this result immediately back of said shelling-wheel there ismounted a pair of holding-rollers I I', preferably provided withcircumferential flanges or ribs and adapted to engage the end of the cobprojecting through the shelling-wheel and to prevent the rotation ofthesame as the cob advances. Said holding-rollers are in the presentinstance mounted in the forward ends of angle-arms K, which arms K arejournaled on the side of the box or casing or on 'a suitable bracket lo,as shown in Fig. 2, and are advanced toward each other by a spring K3,Fig. l. It is highly desirable that the arms should advance uniformlyand always to a central point, for which purpose they are preferablyconnected by toothed projections K, extending between them in proximityto the pivots and forming, as it were, segments of gear-wheels. Thussaid arms are forced to move simultaneously, butin opposite directions.Stops for limiting the movements of the arms toward each other maybemounted on the side of the casing, as shown at K4, or theholding-rollers may be allowed to contact, especially if they are formedwith a centrally-reduced diameter, so as to permit a cob to enterbetween them readily as it passes through the shelling-wheels.

The corn stripped from the cob by the shelling teeth or lips falls downin front of the shelling-wheel, and in order to prevent it from flyingabout in all directions a face-plate L is mounted on the front end ofthe casing and provided with a central aperture Z of suicient diameterto permit of the passage of gears of the largest size, but at the sametime sufficiently small to prevent the escape or iiying of corn throughthe same when an ear is being shelled. The corn dropping down betweenthe face-plate and front board of the casing is caught by the chute M,preferably centrally pivoted at m in a downward projection of theface-plate and lower portion of the front board, whereby it is adaptedto discharge the corn on either side of the Sheller and into a suitablereceptacle placed for its reception.

In operation, assuming that one person is to turn the driving-wheel andalso feed the corn, the drive-wheel is turned with the right hand, anear of corn taken in the left hand and its smaller end presented to theshelling teeth or lips, so as to strip the nubbin corn therefrom, theear hein g then pressed forward until the feeding-spirals take into thecob, when the operator has then simply to prevent the rotation of theear until the holding-rollers take effect on the cob, when thesubsequent advancing and shelling of the corn will proceed automaticallyas ,long as the shelling-wheel is rotated and the operators left hand isleft free to select another ear for presentation to the sheller as soonas the former ear has passed through the shellingwheel.

In practice it is found that there is an effectual separation of thecorn from the cob, silk, and chai, the latter falling down on the innerside of the shelling-wheel, while the corn is discharged on the outerAside of said wheel and between the wheel and face-plate. Thus the cornmay be delivered into one receptacle, the cha and silk in another, whilethe cobs are discharged from the rear end of the machine into still athird receptacle, although it will be understood that the cha, dac., maybe allowed to pass down with the IOO IOS

IIO

IIS

'cobs, in which instance the middle chute will not be necessary.

By reason of the fact that the shelling-lips or flanges operate againstthe ends of the grains of corn it is found that the corn is strippedfrom the cob much more easily than would be the case if they operatedagainst the flat sides of the grains, and by reason of this fact and byeliminating the friction on the large bearing-surface of theshelling-wheel it is found that the sheller is an easy, lightrunning,and rapid device.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-V` l. In a corn-Sheller, the combinationwith the shelling-wheel having beveled gear-teeth on one side and aprojecting flange on the opposite side, of a front plate secured to saidfiange, radially-movable shellingjaws carried by said front plate withfeeding-spirals and shelling-lips on said jaws, a bearing-ring confinedbetween the shelling-Wheel and its front plate whereby theshelling-wheel may be rotated in said ring and a drive-wheel having abeveled gear meshing with the shellingwheel; substantially as described.

2. In a corn-Sheller, the combination with the box having the chute forthe cobs, the front board, the shelling-wheel journaled in said frontboard with means for rotating said wheel and the face-plate with a spacebetween said face-plate and front board, of the chute located in saidspace and the chaichute located between the cob chute and front boardwhereby the corn chaff and cobs may be separately discharged from thesheller; substantially as described.

OTIS E. DAVIDSON Witnesses:

THos. PARKER, Jr., DAvID C. HUGHES.

